‘pecking order’: meanings and origin

30th Mar 2025.Reading time 10 minutes.

1927 (translation of German ‘Hackordnung’): a dominance hierarchy, seen especially in domestic poultry, that is maintained by one bird pecking another of lower status—hence (1929): any hierarchy based on rank or status

history of the phrase ‘every picture tells a story’

3rd Jan 2020.Reading time 19 minutes.

used of images suggestive of real or imaginary events—UK and USA early 1900s: popularised by its use as an advertising slogan for Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills

the theatrical origin of ‘claptrap’

11th Dec 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

first half of the 18th century—‘clap trap’: a use of language designed to capture (i.e. trap) a theatrical audience’s applause (i.e. clapping)

word histories

Tag: Aldous Huxley

‘pecking order’: meanings and origin

history of the phrase ‘every picture tells a story’

the theatrical origin of ‘claptrap’